TWO anti-coal seam gas protesters were arrested yesterday after parking a car in front of the gates of Santos’ Pilliga Forest facility, removing the wheels and locking themselves in.
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The protest, which coincided with Santos’ annual general meeting (AGM), was one of many, with others in Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle.
Coonabarabran landholder David Paull and Lismore resident Naomi Tarrant were arrested at 3.30pm and taken to Narrabri Police Station to be charged.
They had to be cut free by Police Rescue, as they had locked themselves to a pipe which was embedded in cement on the inside of the car.
Mr Paull said as an ecologist, he knew “irreplaceable biodiversity values” of the Pilliga forest better than most.
“The Pilliga is one of 15 federally- listed biodiversity hotspots and a coal seam gas field here would directly affect the survival of at least 10 threatened or endangered species,” Mr Paull said.
“We want the new Santos chief executive , Kevin Gallagher, to know that the North West NSW community, and our statewide supporters, are determined to continue concerted blockades of any attempts to construct CSG works in this region.
“Santos has totally written off the Narrabri Gas Project with a zero- dollar valuation. It’s beyond time that Santos reads the writing on the wall, listens to the opposition of the local people and our diverse supporters and abandons this worthless project.”
Ms Tarrant said she was willing to be arrested to show her support for the people standing against CSG.
“There are thousands of people from across our state who support the traditional custodians, farmers and residents of this region in their battle to keep it gas field free,” she said.
“It’s incredible to see this risk played out with locals working with other communities from across NSW to peacefully oppose and significantly delay all CSG works in the North West region.”
Santos chairman Peter Coates told the AGM that Narrabri was a “very important and valuable resource for the state of NSW” and the company was going to continue with the technical evaluation for the Narrabri Gas
Project.
“We are not going to be bullied out of the Pilliga and the Narrabri area,” Mr Coates said.
“We will take as long as we require with the environmental impact studies that we are doing to ensure that any development meets the highest environmental and community standards.
“Santos has a very good environmental track record and the industry is very well regulated.”
